My mother-in-law made this soup one day and it was so simply brilliant, that I tried it myself. I am a fan of boiled peanuts and papaya is a neutrally healthy fruit to add to soups. You can use either unripe red papayas or green papayas. The red papayas are definitely sweeter, but you need to use the unripe ones so they don’t disintegrate too badly in the soup. The green papayas aren’t as sweet, but have a lingering sweet taste that’s quite delicious in itself. I loaded in the peanuts and eat them as a meal – yum!
Soup Name: Papaya and Peanuts in Pork Broth
Traditional Chinese Name: 木瓜花生豬骨湯 (mù gua huā shēng zhū gǔ tāng)
Papaya and Peanuts in Pork Broth
Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese
Author: LadyTong
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
100g raw [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/peanuts/”]peanuts[/url]
2 raw [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/papaya/”]green papayas[/url]
1 pound of fresh [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/pork-shank/”]pork shank[/url]
10 large [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/large-dried-dates/”]dried dates[/url]
2 L of water
Instructions
Start boiling your soup water in a large pot (thermal ideal)
In a smaller pot, bring enough water to cover the pork shank to a boil and blanch the pork for 5 minutes in the boiling water, remove when done
Cut the papayas into large cubes
When your soup water boils, add all the ingredients together
Boil on medium heat for 30 minutes (ensuring a constant boil)
Reduce heat to a low boil for another 1 hour (or place into thermal pot)
Waste not, want not! Another satisfyingly delicious soup made with a left over ham bone (German-style from Berliner). All it takes is ONE BONE and it creates a very fragrant and amazing soup base for which to add any fresh vegetables or ingredients. Literally, no salt needed. I added my children’s favourites (they love the soup, but don’t really know what’s in it!), and as usual, included the corn as part of the meal. Don’t wash the ham bone, don’t rinse it, don’t do anything except throw it into your soup! You want it keep it tasting like it did from the restaurant and transfer all of that wonderful taste directly to the soup.
Soup Name: Chinese Radish, Carrots and Corn in Ham Bone Broth
Traditional Chinese Name: 青紅蘿蔔玉米湯 (qing hóng luóbo yù mǐ tāng)
Chinese Radish, Carrots and Corn in Ham Bone Soup
Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese Soup
Author: LadyTong
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
1 half-eaten, barely finished Ham Bone (from any restaurant) – don’t wash it!
3 fresh [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/carrots/”]carrots[/url], chopped into large pieces
Another soup for the damp, wet spring season! You’ll find a recurring theme within Spring soups, mainly consisting of an assortment of beans and certain vegetables that are diuretic. This is a simple soup with a pretty strong “bean” taste – so use less beans if it’s for kids. Mine found it a bit too “beany” and didn’t really like it that much. Consider adding corn to sweeten it up, but the adults lapped it up. It’s an easy to drink soup that is excellent for our health during this time of the year, especially when it’s wet and humid. You can also use chayotes, onions and fish for variation.
Soup Name: Old Cucumber and Carrots in Pork Broth
Traditional Chinese Name: 老黃瓜胡蘿蔔湯 (lǎo huáng guā hú luóbo tāng)
Old Cucumber and Carrots in Pork Broth
Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese
Author: LadyTong
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 pound of [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/pork-shank/”]fresh pork shank[/url], cut and blanched
1 large [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/old-cucumber/”]old cucumber[/url], washed and largely cubed (with skin)
2 large [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/carrots/”]fresh carrots[/url], peeled and largely cubed
40 g [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/lentils/”]lentil[/url]
40 g [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/azuki-beans/”]red beans[/url]
1 small piece of [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/tangerine-peels-dried/”]dried tangerine peel[/url], cleaned
2 L of water
Instructions
In a small pot of boiling water, blanch your pork for 5 minutes. Scoop out and rinse of any excess foam.
Start boiling your soup water.
Prepare old cucumber and carrots. Keep the peel for the old cucumber to prevent disintegration.
Soak the dried tangerine peel in warm water for 5 minutes and with a sharp knife, scrape the outer peel (where it’s darker in color) to remove the outer layer of the skin (which is most bitter).
When you soup water boils, add all the ingredients together
Boil on high for 30 minutes and reduce to a medium boil for another 1.5 hours.
This is a variation on a restaurant-styled spinach soup I had at a Chinese restaurant. In their version, the spinach was less dense and more coarse and it was called a “gung” in Cantonese – meaning a thick stew type of soup. I wanted something lighter, healthier for the kids and lighter on the corn starch, so kind of made this up. It turned out to be delicious and the water chestnuts added a refreshing and crunchy texture that I loved! For the vegetarian version, use vegetable broth instead.
Soup Name: Spinach and Water Chestnuts in Chicken Broth
Traditional Chinese Name: 菠菜馬蹄雞湯 (bō cài tāng mǎ tí jī tāng)
Spinach and Water Chestnuts in Chicken Broth
Recipe Type: Chinese Soup
Cuisine: Chinese Soup
Author: LadyTong
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
3 cloves of fresh garlic, finely diced
1/2 fresh white [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/onions-fresh/”]onion[/url], finely chopped
6 bunches of [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/spinach/”]fresh spinach[/url], chopped
In your soup pot, add a teaspoon of cooking oil and fry garlic and onions until the onions are caramelized
Throw in the chopped spinach and cook for another 5 minutes while continuously stirring
Add in chicken broth and water
Boil on medium for another 10 minutes (or until boiling)
Remove from heat and using a hand blender, blend the soup until it runs smooth
In a pot of hot water, boil the peeled water chestnuts for 5 minutes
When ready, remove and finely chop the water chesnuts
Sprinkle the water chestnuts on top of the soup and serve!
Notes
[b]Any Benefits[/b][br]This soup is extremely high in iron, calcium and antioxidants (that help kill free radicals and slow down the sign of aging).[br]It’s suitable for the whole family.[br]It’s an easy and quick soup that you can whip up in less than half an hour.[br][br][b]Any Precautions[/b][br]Be sure to thoroughly wash the Spinach.[br]Not recommended for those with gout to take in large portions as Spinach contributes to gout.
3.2.2298
Cooked garlic, onions and spinach in preparation for blending
Another simple soup with a few ingredients you can pick up at your local grocery or wet mart. The winter melon is usually more readily available during the warmer months in HK, but beef and fish balls are in season all the time (yah, in the frozen section of your friendly supermarket). Use the simplest balls, that being beef and fish balls without any surprises on the inside (Taiwanese styled fish balls usually have exploding surprises, so avoid these). The flavors of the balls (mainly salt and whatever other marinades they use) will seep out and make your soup tasty, so don’t add salt unless you’ve tried it first. You can make this soup in about thirty minutes by simply throwing all the ingredients together. In this case, I separated the peel from the flesh so that the melon could soften quicker. In “old fire” wintermelon soups, I will keep the peel attached – but this is really up to personal preference.
Soup Name: Winter Melon and Beef and Fish Balls Soup
Traditional Chinese Name: 冬瓜湯 (dōng guā tāng)
Winter Melon and Beef and Fish Balls Soup
Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese Soup
Author: LadyTong
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
1 large slice of [url href=”http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/winter-melon/”]winter melon[/url], sliced with skin off (but the peel is also boiled as part of the soup)
10 precooked beef balls
10 precooked fish balls
2 L of water
Instructions
Start boiling your soup water
Wash the winter melon skin and then peel the skin off the winter melon and cube the remaining winter melon flesh
Rinse the beef and fish balls in warm water
When the water boils, throw all the ingredients together
Boil on high for 30 minutes
Serve and enjoy!
Notes
[b]Any benefits?[/b][br][br]Excellent soup for children, especially during the heaty months[br]Winter melons are known to remove heatiness and helps detoxify the body[br]It is ideal in removing phelgm from the lungs[br]It is also particularly effective in regulating blood sugar levels[br][br][b]Any precautions?[/b][br][br]Like most melons, they will sour the soup the longer you keep it, so try to consume all of it in one day[br]Since it is a cooling food, it should be carefully consumed if pregnant (less than 3 months into term) or menstruating (can cause contractions)
Soup Name: Beetroot Vegetables with Pork Ribs Soup
Traditional Chinese Name: 紅菜頭集菜湯 (hóng cài tóu jí cài tāng)
Introduction:
It’s Chinese New Year’s and what better time to make a blood red soup than this special holiday? The red beet is as red as a vegetable as you can get and mixed with other hearty vegetables, makes for a meal in itself! Use any type of pork meat and boil it for the red beets to seep out its rich, vibrant red. I forewarned the children that this would be a more “unique” soup, but after one sip, they loved it! It’s also a very neutral soup ideal for the whole family.
Amount serves: 6-8 soup bowls
What Ingredients are required?
1 pound of fresh pork ribs 2 large beetroots, cut into large cubes 2 large carrots, sliced 1 white onion, halved 1 celery stalk, sliced 2 fresh tomatoes, quartered 15 dried longans
2 L of water
How do I prepare it?
In a small pot, boil some water to blanch your pork ribs
Blanch the ribs in boiling water for about 5 minutes, drain and set aside (some people rinse the pork ribs with warm water to rinse away the brown foam that usually surfaces when blanching pork)
In your soup pot, start boiling the water
Prepare all your vegetables
When the water boils, add all the vegetables and the blanched pork and longans together
Boil on high for 30 minutes and reduce to a medium simmer for another 1.5 hours (or use a thermal pot)
Serve and enjoy!
Any benefits?
Excellent source of Vitamin C and antioxidants
Eats like a meal with plenty of vegetables (and great source of fiber)
Excellent in supporting blood supplement and helps lower blood pressure (because the beetroot contains nitrates which help open the blood vessels and helps with circulation)
Any precautions?
Consumption of beetroot may turn your urine or stool slightly reddish, there is nothing to fear in this as it is harmless. Just let it pass through your system.
The colour of the beetroot will stain your hands, so either wear gloves or use some lemon juice to help remove
